Life After Filene's: Boston Suffers Withdrawal

Filene's Basement has been announcing its closure for ages, but they've finally done it for real. Shoppers have scoured the racks for the last time, and the Downtown Crossing building is now a blank canvas for developers. And it feels like somebody died.

Jessica Fargen at the Herald used the phrase "pay their respects" when describing customers on the last day. Andrew Ryan at the Globe called the final day of shopping "grim" and declared that the closing of Filene's leaves a "void." The end of Filene's leaves a void for the mayor in particular, who picked up some Zegna suits (who knew?) during the last days.

While the bargains were great, the Darwinian shopping model was fun, and the history of Filene's cannot be denied, can somebody please write an article that says "For crying out loud, it's a store, not a person! And it's coming back!"

While the closing isn't good news for Mayor Menino's wardrobe or for the pushcart vendors who relied on Filene's traffic, the end of an era might be a blessing in disguise for Boston as shoppers hunt for new places to go. After all, the brides have to find somewhere to run, and the mayor has to get new ties somewhere - call it an era of neighborhood discovery.

And, as we said, Filene's Basement will be reborn. The store is scheduled to reopen in 2009 on Filene's 100th anniversary. Then again, knowing how construction works in Boston, maybe there's good reason to think Filene's Basement is over for good.